College Hill Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, took “Black History Month” from the February page of the calendar to the pages of its congregation’s hearts and minds. In the process, our members and the larger community re-wrote both history and expectations for the future. ”
Our pastor, Drew Smith, announced his plan to mark black history month not only in the secular life of our people, but in our church life as well. First, a bit of history. Our church is located in an area of Cincinnati, Ohio, that has a small-town atmosphere of tree-lined streets and small shops. It was part of the “Underground Railroad” in pre-Civil War days and many of the houses in College Hill have secret passageways and rooms where runaway slaves were protected. The church was founded in 1853 and many of its elders belonged to the abolitionist movement.
During the 1960s and 70s, as the city of Cincinnati expanded, blacks moved into the area in large numbers and the community experienced “white flight.” The Presbyterian Church made a spiritual covenant with the community to stay. Today the community is 60% black. However, our church is 95% white. Schools, work places, restaurants, shops are well integrated, but there are few personal, interracial relationships within the community. Sunday morning at 11 a.m. remains very segregated.
Pastor Drew planned five services from January 18 through February 15. He preached the first Sunday on “Racial Reconciliation: Only One Spirit.” Guest preachers filled the pulpit for the next four Sundays.
First, a pastor from a nearby black Presbyterian Church brought his entire congregation to our Sunday morning worship services. His sermon topic was “Mistaken Identity.” A combined choir from both churches gave us a glorious spiritual experience and brought the congregation to its feet with hand-clapping music.
Afterward we were all encouraged to sit with people we didn’t know at round tables for a potluck lunch. Each table had a pile of small colored plastic “links” at each place. In a carefully planned icebreaker, we told facts about ourselves, like favorite foods, movies, where we were born, number of family members, etc. When someone said, “I liked chocolate ice cream,” for example, everyone who agreed gave them a colored link. At the end we put all our links together and made a long chain of our “similarities.” We discovered that we were more alike than different.
The next Sunday we listened to an African American who is the vice president of the City Gospel Mission. A warm, loving person, he shocked our congregation when he shared how he had grown up distrusting white men. Although God has changed his heart, he said that unconditional love remains very hard work.
The following Sunday the black pastor of the First Baptist Church in town brought his entire congregation and choir, who enlivened the sanctuary with their music. The sermon topic, “Unity in Diversity,” climbed over several separating walls: Baptist/Presbyterian; rich/poor, black/white.
Hunter Farrell, director of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) world missions, concluded the series with a view of “The Gospel in Technicolor.” His presentation was filled with personal experiences and he shared his optimism for global missions growth in the coming years. Members of our congregation and the presbytery filled our fellowship hall to share a meal and react with him in a question-and-answer time.
During the five-week period, two evening classes were held each week. In each class teachers had great lesson plans on racial and justice issues. However, many evenings ended with the agenda not covered, but with great discussions. A Sunday morning adult class used Sojourners’ “Christians and Racial Justice” discussion guide to allow them to informally think through many of the issues. Our own African American church members faithfully attended the classes and shared their feelings openly.
Some discussions were uncomfortable. One man told how a realtor had given him the run-around when he simply wanted to buy a house in College Hill. He was shown a poorly-maintained house, a pink house, and then was encouraged to try in other parts of the city. Whites were surprised when black women disclosed how policemen followed their husbands into our middle-class neighborhood and their sons were constantly searched for drugs in school. The blacks, in turn, were amazed that the whites had no idea these things were still going on.
White privilege was a hard topic, but we pushed on with questions like: “Why should I be blamed for something my great grandparents did? It’s not my fault. I wasn’t even there!” We often came back to the place where we could only cling to Jesus’ teaching of forgiveness and God’s wonderful grace.
What’s next? We don’t know. However, Pastor Drew is encouraging everyone to be intentional about seeking personal interracial, intercultural friendships.
Marybelle Chapman is mission coordinator at College Hill Church, Cincinnati, Ohio.
